The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1887-04-21
Garm Yotes.
KEEPING FERTILIZERS IN STOCK.

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ing time to stop the team and take a
mans time for a day to draw a load of
phosphate which might just as we'll be
drawn before the busy season opens.
Farmers who use phosphate should
make an estimate of the amount they
need or can afford, and draw it early,
so as to have ready when needed. If
kept dry it will not deteriorate: but
rather improve by keeping over me
year.
~ FLOUR IN BRAN.
Experienced feeders have learned
that the bran having the largest
amour of flour in it does not make
the best food for stock. This flour is
mainly starch, and is what people
largely live on, but the shrewd feeder
of stock wants something better for
his animals. Spring wheat bran has a
larger proportion Of nitrogen matter
than that from winter wheat, and
though many do not know the fact it
is the most valuable for feeding.
STUMBLE IN THE WAY.
Heavy grain stubble sometimes after
a dry, cold winter remains standing,
and will make the grass hard to cut
next summer. The best way to main
tain this is to roll it down with heavy
roller, or if this does not do the work,
use the smoothing harrow and follow
with the roller. Do this while the
straw is wet and the ground damp.
This will press the straw into the soil,
where it will rot as the grass grows
over it to give shade and protect from
drying winds.
SELLING GOOD HORSES.
A farmer who has a good working
team should be careful about setting
a price on them. He may find too
late that it is easier to sell than to
replace. There is no horse perfect in
in every respect, and those fairly good
are much more scarce than people are
apt to suppose before they 60 horse
hunting. A good working team is an
indispensable adjunct to good farming.
If the team is to be sold, it's owner
might in most cases be better off to
dispose of the farm at the same time.
CHANGING HORSES COATS.
While horses are shedding their
coats they should be we'll fed and not
overworked. 1t is important to have
the new coat on before active farm
work begins, as the changing process
is facilitating. Thorough grooming
at this time is very important, and
there should at all times be work
enough to prevent the muscles from
becoming weakened by disuse. I'm
less horses have some work in winter,
the fat they then put on will do them
little good, besides the certainty hat
the shoulders will gall when the horses
are put to hard pulling.
mi NEwLY-piANTED TREES.
The usual directions for pruning
newly-planted trees are to cut the top
in proportion as the roots have been
mutilated. This is misleading, for it
implies that if the roots are little in
jured, lot much pruning of the top
will be necessary. Now, whatever the
condition of the roots, the top should
be cut back SO that only one bud is
left to grow on each branch. In this
way strong shoots will be made the
first season. If the roots are much
injured, only one of the lower buds
should be left to grow, making a
leader from which branches may be
started the following year.
sKIM-MIIK FOR COWS.
There are many times in butter
diaries where the most profitable use
of skinned milk is to feed it again to
the COW which has given it. The milk
after the cream has been taken from
it retains the elements that most cows
find sufficient in their food. With
plenty of grain the COW can easily
supply the carbon or fat-forming ele-
ments of her milk, provided she can
get the caseine and albuminous por-
tions which the skim-milk furnishes.
It is the drain of these that hurts cows
most, and they should be, supplied if
not in skim-milk, then in some other
food equally nutritious.
Sailing COWS REGULARLY.
All kinds of stock need salt, but it
is especially necessary for mich COWS,
and it is important that it be given
regularly. If left where they can get
it under shelter, they will only eat
what they need, a little almost daily